Month: May 2014
…i can’t remember anything you’ve ever said…
St. Vincent – St. Vincent (2014)
Back in 2009 I bought Annie Clark’s, aka St. Vincent, second album Actor. Even with many positive reviews, I just never really got into it. Perhaps it was because I was going through a relationship break up at the time, it didn’t make a huge impression on me at first and I never got back around to it. I had moved on, I had a condo to decorate. From that time, I admired St Vincent from afar but didn’t hear much of her music for several years.
Released in late February, St Vincent’s self-titled album brought me back into the fold. I wanted to get back into her so picked it up… well, ordered it and it took well over a month to receive. Even after making the decision to come back to her, I was late in doing it. I’m glad I did though, St. Vincent the album is a spiky triumph.
In 2012, St Vincent released an album with David Byrne. A Talking Heads influence permeates through, “Digital Witness”. All herky-jerky funk with synthesized horns. “Prince Johnny” has the feel of a torch song with an electronic choir humming just beneath the instruments. However, lyrics about “the time we went and snorted” and “holding court in bathroom stalls” suggest something darker is on Ms Clark’s mind.
“Birth In Reverse” sizzles with angular beats and guitar riffs. “I prefer your love to, Jesus” opens the ballad “I Prefer Your Love”. With a mournful synth carrying the track, it comes across as an updated version of Sinead’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”. The album ends on a high note with “Severed Cross Fingers” – “We’ll be heroes on every bar stool when seeing double beats not seeing one of you”. Of everything released so far this, St Vincent is a wondrous album that stands taller than most.
9/10
Kevin Drew – Darlings (2014)
On Fox drama, Party of Five, one of the best posters I’ve ever seen appeared on the bedroom wall of Neve Campbell’s character. It was the cover to Lush’s Split album. Four lemons featured on the left and the lyrics running down the right side. I’ve looked for that poster for years. While not as great, another standout rock poster in a TV show is on the Mindy Project. Pop culture loving Mindy for whatever reason, other than it fits the décor, has a Broken Social Scene poster in her living room. While it’s been a long while since Broken Social Scene have released anything, they live on every week on a lowly watched but otherwise clever show.
Because of this, I’m reminded of Kevin Drew nearly every week. Earlier this year he released his second solo album, Darlings. Preceded by brilliant single, “Good Sex” (included here), Darlings hums along right from the get go. Most of the tracks lean toward mid-tempo, synth driven variety. “You Gotta Feel It” shines as does “You In Your Were” (featuring backing vocals from Feist). Throughout, Drew sings mainly about love and sex, first track here is called “Body Butter”, but it never veers to being crass. There is a warmth to the sound that makes this second solo album sound both personal and intimate, with far more winners than losers.
7.5/10
The War On Drugs – Lost In The Dream (2014)
The War on Drugs’ 2011 sophomore release was as slow burner. Slave Ambient is one of those albums that you put on in the early afternoon and hours later realize you’ve listened to it ten times in a row and still want to hear it again. After receiving quite a bit of critical acclaim and a successful tour, Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs’ main man) spent fifteen months at home in Philadelphia crafting its follow-up, Lost In The Dream.
The basic sound of Slave Ambient is still intact, Tunnel of Love era Bruce Springsteen with Bob Dylan vocals and a splash of Tom Petty, but the songs have grown longer with half of the ten tracks going over the six minute mark. Opener “Under the Pressure” is a marvel. A piano twinkles in and out before a mid-section breakdown of layered guitars and synthesizers, a drum then kick starts the song back alive. “Eyes To The Wind” turns up Granduciel’s Dylanesque vocal inflections when he sings, “I’m just a bit run down here at the moment, yeah I’m all alone here, living in darkness”. “Burning” contains a piano line that is an absolute dead ringer for Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks”… and is all the better for it.
In the hands of lesser talent, longer tracks can easily lose focus but here that really only happens with the meandering “Disappearing”. Lost In The Dream was crafted in the city but it is the sound of prairie skies, dusty roads and pick-up trucks. Tim Riggins and Lyla Gerrity would surely approve. This is already one of the best albums of 2014. Pennsylvania forever.
8/10
The Light Appears 